This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel.
Pakse is the biggest city in the south of Laos and a main transportation hub to travelers, as it has a privileged location, really near the Thai border and less than two hundred kilometers from the Cambodian border. So, if you are traveling around Laos, it is possible that you will end up here.
The city is nice but hasn't much to see. There is a museum with some good examples of ornately carved sandstones, very typical from this region and some local tribes costumes and jewelry. The entrance is inexpensive and is a nice way to kill some time.
Anyway, the best place that you can go when stopping in Pakse is the amazing Wat Phou, one of the few Khmer ruins outside Cambodia and a must-see if you are in Laos. This place is also listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This is a huge place full of pre-Angkorian temples dating as far as the sixth century. The landscape is marked by the river valley and together with the fact that this place hasn't been exhaustively restored, you will have a mystical feeling here, being possible to imagine how this place looked like a few centuries ago. You can't miss it!
The easiest way to arrive in Pakse is by airplane with the airport just two kilometers away from the city, which you can reach by tuk-tuk. There are also buses, but any trip to the north of the country takes a long time. If you are heading to Thailand border, you need only about one hour but there are direct buses from Pakse to Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand (about a three-hour ride) -- make sure you get all the information for getting Thailand's visa and the conditions applied to your nationality.
There are a few hostels in Pakse with average conditions. Most of Pakse's hostels are concentrated north of the central market area, so try to stay around there. Most of Pakse's hostels will present you a good price/quality relation.
Written by local expertz for Pakse
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